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Joe Mauer
Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19 1983 in St. Paul, MN), is an American former catcher, designated hitter and first baseman who spent his entire 15-year career with the Minnesota Twins in Major League Baseball. Mauer was considered by many scouts to be the best young catcher in the game and has been said by some, including Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., to have the best swing in baseball. In his breakout 2006 season, Mauer became the first catcher in major league history to lead both leagues in batting average and the first American League catcher to win the batting title, finishing with an average of .347. High school career Mauer played football, basketball and baseball for Saint Paul's Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders. Mauer attended the same high school as Baseball Hall of Famer and former Minnesota Twin, Paul Molitor. Molitor has said that Mauer "has the best swing he had ever seen". Joe appeared in a Sports Illustrated issue of "Faces In The Crowd". A stand-out in baseball, Mauer struck out only once during his four-year high school career, and hit .605 during his senior season. He also set a Minnesota high school record by homering in seven consecutive games. Mauer caught for the Team USA Junior National team from 1998 to 2000 and hit .595 during his final year on the team. He was voted best hitter at the world tournament in Panama in 2000. In 2001, Mauer was voted the United States District V Player of the Year. Mauer also had an extremely accomplished high school football career. During his senior season as the Raiders' quarterback, Mauer completed 178 of 288 passes (62%) for 3,022 yards, 41 touchdowns and only five interceptions, and finished his two-year career as a starter with 5,528 yards and 73 touchdowns. Mauer led the Raiders to two consecutive Class 5A state championship game appearances and won the title in 1999. Mauer once threw seven touchdown passes in a playoff game against the Hopkins Royals. Mauer was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Parade's and USA Today's Player of the Year and a Reebok/ESPN High School All-American. Mauer was also named "National High School Quarterback Of The Year" in 2000 by The National Quarterback Club. He was also named to the All-State team during his final two years on Cretin-Derham's basketball team. Mauer ultimately turned down a football scholarship from Florida State University to enter the Major League Baseball Draft. Mauer was selected by the Twins as the first overall pick of the 2001 draft, ahead of prospect Mark Prior, who was taken second overall by the Chicago Cubs. Professional career Mauer was part of the United States' roster at the 2003 All-Star Futures Game at US Cellular Field before being promoted to the Twins' roster in after his predecessor, A.J. Pierzynski, was traded to the San Francisco Giants, in the 2003 off-season. Mauer went 2 for 3 in his Major League debut, hitting a single off Rafael Betancourt of the Cleveland Indians for his first major-league hit. A knee injury to his left medial meniscus on April 7, 2004, required surgery and sidelined Mauer for over a month. After a rehabilitation stint with the Twins' AAA affiliate Rochester Red Wings, Mauer returned to the Twins' lineup in June. In July, pain and swelling in his knee forced an early end to Mauer's 2004 season. Following his injury-shortened 2004, Mauer signed a contract for $5.7 million with the Twins on January 24, 2005. In 2005, Mauer returned to the Twins' lineup for his first full major league season and had 144 hits in 131 games, and ended the year with an average of .294. , 2006 cover of Sports Illustrated.]] In 2006, Mauer's performance during the months of May and June garnered attention from the national media. He recorded a .528 average over the first ten days of June and hit .452 over the course of the month. He was also the first player since Mike Piazza in 1997 to reach base four or more times for five consecutive games. On June 12, Mauer was named the American League Player of the Week by Major League Baseball for his performance the week of June 4-11, during which he hit .625 (15-for-24) with 5 doubles, 4 RBI and 2 stolen bases. Mauer recorded his first five-RBI game June 26, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mauer followed that up with his first career five-hit game June 27, also against the Los Angeles Dodgers.He was also named Player of the Month for June after batting .452 with a .624 slugging percentage and .528 on base percentage, 11 doubles, 14 RBI and 18 runs. Along with Johan Santana (Pitcher of the Month) and Francisco Liriano (Rookie of the Month), Mauer was part of the first-ever single-team sweep of MLB's three monthly awards. On July 2, Mauer was selected by the players to his first All-Star Game. Mauer appeared on the cover of the August 7, 2006 issue of Sports IllustratedSI.com - Sports Illustrated Covers - Aug. 7, 2006 - Hardworking Twins catcher Joe Mauer is the ideal hometown hero, and he's poised to make history at his position (Mauer was appropriately voted "Most Likely to Be on the Cover of Sports Illustrated" in his high school senior yearbook poll). Mauer finished the 2006 regular season with a .347 batting average, edging the Yankees' Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano to win the American League batting title and become the first-ever American League catcher to win the crown and the first catcher to claim the title since Ernie Lombardi in with the Boston Braves. His .347 average was the highest in the Major Leagues, a feat not achieved by the previous three catchers to win NL batting titles.2006 Career Highlights MLB.com He was the youngest to win a batting title since Alex Rodriguez in . ]] After going 2-for-4 in the last game of the 2006 regular season, Mauer confessed to reporters, "When I told you I wasn’t thinking about the batting title? I was lying. I’ve never been that nervous in my life. I haven’t felt anything like that since Opening Day as a rookie.” Mauer won his first Silver Slugger award in 2006, announced on November 10 2006, along with teammate Justin Morneau, who also won a Silver Slugger award that year. On February 11, 2007, Mauer agreed to a four-year, $33 million contract with the Twins to avoid arbitration. The deal ensures that Mauer will remain in Minnesota long enough to play in the Twins' new outdoor stadium in 2010. On July 21, 2007, Mauer hit his first career inside-the-park home run against Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Scot Shields. It was his fifth home run of the season, and there were two players on base when he hit the homer. It was the first inside-the-park home run by a catcher since Kelly Stinnett did it for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005. On July 6, 2008, Mauer was announced as the starting catcher for the American League in the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Mauer earns first All-Star Game start | twinsbaseball.com: News Other work Mauer modeled for Perry Ellis in the 2004-2005 off-season and is featured in television commercials for Pepsi and ESPN. Personal life Mauer lived with Twins teammate Justin Morneau in Saint Paul during the 2006 season, but the two now have their own homes. Mauer now lives about 50 miles north of the Twin Cities. Mauer spends his off-season in Fort Myers, Florida. In baseball circles it has been said that when a ballplayer makes a mistake, someone will try to console him by telling them that "Nobody is perfect, well... except for Joe Mauer". Basically insinuating his success in a light manner and perhaps lowering their expectations. Relatives *In the 2001 draft, the Twins also selected Joe's older brother, Jake Mauer, as the 677th overall pick in the 23rd round. Jake was an All-American shortstop at the University of St. Thomas, which is located in Saint Paul. Jake led his UST baseball team to the NCAA Division III National Championship in 2001. Some observers concluded that drafting Jake was an attempt to induce Joe to sign a contract, but Mike Radcliff, the scouting director of the Twins, denied this. Jake Mauer ended his playing career after the 2005 season, has been coaching in the Twins farm system. Since *In 2002, the Twins also signed Joe's other brother Bill Mauer who was undrafted out of college. He pitched three years in the minors for the organization. * His mother, Teresa (Tierney) Mauer, is in the athletic hall of fame at St. Catherine's College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her Central (St. Paul) High School basketball team won the 1st ever girl's state basketball championship in 1976. * His aunt, Jean (Tierney) Holt, is in the athletic hall of fame at Creighton University, where she was an All-American at 2nd base for the Bluejays softball team. Ms. Holt was Ms. Basketball Minnesota during her senior year of high school. *His uncle is Ken Mauer, a referee in the NBA. See also * List of Major League Baseball batting champions References External links * *Joe Mauer Fan Club *The Twins Other M&M Boy - JustinMorneau.com *A Swing of Beauty *Right at Home - ESPN the Magazine, March 1 2004 *Joe Mauer Fan site with daily blog updates, stats, bio, pictures, and more. * Did Mauer make the right choice? (Minnesota Public Radio) *Joe Mauer: Too good to be true? (Minnesota Public Radio) | after=Bryan Bullington}} Category:1983 births Category:All-Star Futures Game players Category:American League All-Stars Category:American League batting champions Category:Austrian-Americans Category:Living people Category:Major league catchers Category:Major league players from Minnesota Category:Minnesota Twins players Category:People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:Players Category:Major League Baseball All-Stars Category:Major League Baseball Most Valuable Players Category:Gold Glove Award winners Category:Silver Slugger Award winners